`Supremacist Ideology' Fears Prompt Drive To Oust Bush

Newsmakers - GEORGE SOROS PROMOTING OPEN SOCIETIES

NEW YORK -- George Soros, one of the richest men in the world, has given away nearly $5 billion to promote democracy in the former Soviet bloc, Africa and Asia.

Now he has a new project: defeating President Bush.

"It is the central focus of my life," Soros said. The 2004 presidential race, he said in an interview, is "a matter of life and death."

Soros, who has financed efforts to promote open societies in more than 50 countries around the world, is bringing the fight home, he said. He and a partner committed up to $5 million to Moveon.org, a liberal activist group, bringing to $15.5 million the total of his personal contributions to oust Bush.

Overnight, Soros, 74, has become the major financial player of the left. He has elicited cries of foul play from the right. With a tight nod, he pledged, "If necessary, I would give more money."

"America, under Bush, is a danger to the world," Soros said. Then he smiled: "And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is."

Soros says a "supremacist ideology" guides this White House. He hears echoes in its rhetoric of his childhood in occupied Hungary: "When I hear Bush say, `You're either with us or against us,' it reminds me of the Germans." It conjures up memories, he said, of Nazi slogans on the walls, Der Feind Hort mit ("The enemy is listening").

"My experiences under Nazi and Soviet rule have sensitized me," he said.

In the past, political parties paid a large share of television and get-out-the-vote costs with unregulated "soft-money" contributions from corporations, unions and rich individuals. The parties are now barred from accepting such money. Non-party groups in both camps are stepping in, accepting soft money and taking over voter mobilization.

Christine Iverson, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said Soros is an example of the small group of people with special interests who fund the Democratic Party. "It's incredibly ironic that George Soros is trying to create a more open society by using an unregulated, under-the-radar-screen, shadowy, soft-money group to do it," Iverson said. "George Soros has purchased the Democratic Party."

In past election cycles, Soros has contributed relatively modest sums. In 2000, his aide said, he gave $122,000, mostly to Democratic causes and candidates. But recently, he has grown alarmed at the influence of neoconservatives, whom he calls "a bunch of extremists guided by a crude form of social Darwinism."

The neoconservatives, Soros said, are exploiting the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a pre-existing agenda of pre-emptive war and world dominion. "Bush feels that, on September 11th, he was anointed by God," Soros said. "Rather than defeating terrorism, he's leading the U.S. and the world toward a vicious circle of escalating violence."

Soros said he had been waking at 3 a.m., his thoughts shaking him "like an alarm clock." He wrote his ideas, longhand. In January, Public Affairs will publish them as a book, titled, The Bubble of American Supremacy. In it, he argues for a collective approach to security, increased foreign aid and constructive rather than military action abroad.

"It would be too immodest for a private person to set himself up against the president," he said. "But it is, in fact" -- he said, chuckling --"the Soros Doctrine."

His campaign began last summer with the help of Mort Halpern, a liberal think tank veteran. Soros invited Democratic strategists to his house in Southampton, including John Podesta, Jeremy Rosner, Bob Boorstin and Carl Pope. They discussed the coming election. Soros took aside Steve Rosenthal and Ellen Malcolm, CEO and president of America Coming Together (ACT). They were proposing to mobilize voters in 17 battleground states. Soros told them he would give them $10 million.

Rosenthal deadpanned: "We were disappointed. We thought a guy like George Soros could do more." Then he laughed. "No, kidding! It was thrilling."

Malcolm: "It was like getting his Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

"They were ready to kiss me," Soros quipped.

The next morning, his friend Peter Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Corp., had pledged $10 million to ACT. Rob Glaser, founder and CEO of RealNetworks, promised $2 million. Rob McKay, president of the McKay Family Foundation, gave $1 million, and benefactors Lewis and Dorothy Cullman committed $500,000.

Soros also promised up to $3 million to Podesta's new think tank, the Center for American Progress.

Soros will continue to recruit wealthy donors for his campaign. He said he has learned that "money buys talent; you can advocate more effectively." He raised $115,000 for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. He also supports Democratic presidential contenders John Kerry, Wesley Clark and Dick Gephart.

The RNC is not the only group irked by Soros. Even old friends have turned foe. Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which promotes changes in campaign finance, has benefited from Soros grants over the years. Soros has backed altering campaign finance, an aide said, donating close to $18 million over the past seven years.

"There's some irony, given the supporting role he played in helping to end the soft-money system," Wertheimer said. "I'm sorry that Mr. Soros has decided to put so much money into a political effort to defeat a candidate. We will be watchdogging him closely."

A Soros aide said he welcomes the scrutiny. He has become as rich as he has, the aide said, because he has a preternatural instinct for a good deal.

Asked whether he would trade his $7 billion fortune to unseat Bush, Soros opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He wrinkled his brow. The proposal hung in the air: Would he become poor to beat Bush?